Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE FRIDAY. FEBRUARY 27th., 1931. P. & T. CHARGES.

Greymouth Evening Star, 27 February 1931, Page 6

Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE FRIDAY. FEBRUARY 27th., 1931. P. & T. CHARGES.

’J’HE increased postal and telegraphic charges will not be popular, but the Government must try .to obtain additional revenue, and the Post Office wa§ an easy mark. The increases in the rates are 'more than generally expected, and must add to the costs of running many industries. That luay be used as an argument why any wage-cuts should not be accompanied by a reduced charge to the public. The Government is reducing its own wage payments but increasing its charges, yet asks private enterprise to refrain from similar action.

With the general principle that the Post Office should be asked to supply some of the additional revenue required, if the Budget is to be balanced, few will quarrel. Whether the Government has not over-reached itself in this matter is open to debate. There will be, in future, greater supervision over postal and telegraphic expenditure by many firms, and private correspondence will probably also dwindle. The net increase in revenue to the Government may not prove to have been worth the disruption caused by the new scale. Experience has proved that the cheaper the postage the greater the business done, and ordinary business principles are now being challenged by the Government. Mr. Donald, the Postmaster General, states the case for the Department, in restrained language, and it would seem that he is not enamoured of the Ministry’s decision. It must be agreed that no great hardship is caused by ihe increase in telegraphic rates, including—if it is not heresy for us to say so—the extra cost foV Press messages.

Newspapers will have to trim the news-service for the lime being, it the additional charges prove onerous, .using the post instead of the telegraph, for some of the laudable efforts to let one half of New Zealand know what the other half is doing. Regrettable as the Ministerial decision may be, the Dominion’s newspapers should accept it with good grace. They continually urge other trading enterprises to accept Government demands to meet the national needs. The cost of newspaper production is everincreasing, but some of this is due to competition between newspapers getting beyond the reasonable

stage. Neither papers nor readers will suffer if there is a return to greater sanity. Frankly, we admit that the Government treats the Press of this country very fairly, and if experience proves that the new higher charges to the Press are against publie interest, alleviation will be, doubtless, forthcoming. If there is any sincerity in the Press-supported gospel of equality of sacrifice, newspapers should not protest too much when their share is allotted. We are not belittling the added burden placed on newsI paper enterprises, but express the opinion that seeing the country’s financial position is what it is, the Press should set a good example, by meeting as cheerfully as possible, the Government’s latest adverse decision.